It may look like a SIG P210, but this odd 9mm is totally different (VIDEO)

Weapons wonk Larry Vickers takes a look at a gun that is only common if you served time in the French Army in De Gaulle’s day– the M1950.

Officially the Modèle 1950 but commonly just known as the MAS 50 or MAC 1950 after the two arsenals (Manufacture d’Armes St. Etienne and Manufacture d’Armes de Chatellerault) that cranked it out after World War II, this single stack 9mm saw lots of use in Vietnam back when it was called Indochina as well as other parts temporarily French.

As Larry V explains, the single-action pistol borrows a bit from Browning’s designs– and has a wonky safety system that is merde– but is, in the end, a joy to fire.

The reason it looks a lot like the early SIG single stack of the same era is that both guns share the same family tree as Swiss engineer (and French Foreign Legion vet) Charles Petter’s M1935 pistol– though far more P210s and M1950s have been made.